Barbarous bugs

The Washington State Department of Agriculture has issued a foreboding warning about the frightening invasion of so-called murder hornets. According to department entomologist Sven-Erik Spichiger, the invasive population of hornets is preparing to attack honeybee colonies and decapitate all the worker bees they encounter. “Asian giant hornets this time of year start going into what we call the slaughter phase,” Spichiger said during an Oct. 2 press event. The first of the 1¾-inch hornets were spotted in Blaine, Wash., along the Canadian border last December. Between late September and early October, department officials and local residents discovered six more of the giant hornets near Blaine, far away from their natural territory in East Asia and Japan.

Cruel and unusual

A county district attorney charged Oklahoma jailers Oct. 5 with cruelty to a prisoner after they forced inmates to listen to “Baby Shark,” a popular children’s song, on repeat. An investigation by Oklahoma County authorities found that three jailers at the Oklahoma County Jail forced four prisoners to stand handcuffed in the jail’s visitation room while listening to “Baby Shark” at high volume for up to two hours, what authorities deemed “cruel or inhuman” treatment. The three jail employees now face misdemeanor charges.

Homeward bound

After 51 years, an Army veteran’s dog tags have found their way home. Ronald Hepper of the Army’s 196th Light Infantry Brigade lost his dog tags in Vietnam in 1969 when an exploding grenade blew the boots off his feet. Hepper, who died in 2007, always kept his dog tags in his boots. Although he recovered from his injuries and became a rancher in South Dakota, the veteran never found his boots or his identification. But earlier this year, an American tourist in Russia found the dog tags for sale by a Moscow street vendor and bought them. The tourist turned the tags over to U.S. officials, who promptly arranged to have them reunited with the late veteran’s family. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum returned Hepper’s dog tags to his widow Ruth during a Sept. 30 ceremony in Bismarck.

Not quite write

A world-famous lexicographer says she’s “gutted” after learning her new book about the English language is full of typographical errors. Susie Dent said she learned on Oct. 1 that the first printing of her new book Word Perfect is not so perfect. “I just opened it up and saw there was something wrong in the acknowledgments,” she told The Times of London. “And then I had to close it because I felt a bit sick. There are quite a few errors. I haven’t counted them and I don’t really want to.” On Twitter, Dent, who also appears on a popular U.K. morning show, revealed that her publisher accidentally used an earlier version of the text for her book.

Known by his fruit

U.K. resident Arran Burton may have found the peach sweet at the time, but his half-eaten fruit has led to a burglary conviction in northeast England. Burton broke into a Northumberland home last October and helped himself to some chocolates and fruit while raiding the home. Investigating afterward, police discovered a half-eaten peach they believed the 27-year-old left behind. A forensics lab confirmed the hunch and positively identified Burton, and the burglar pleaded guilty in court nearly a year later on Sept. 29.

Pricey potty

After five years of development and $23 million spent, NASA officials have finally upgraded the International Space Station’s 1990s-era toilet. Officials with the space agency say their new titanium space toilet was designed for the space station but could eventually grace a restroom on the moon. The 100-pound potty measures 28 inches tall and was delivered to the space station in early October. Project manager Melissa McKinley said engineers designed the toilet to be better accommodating to female astronauts by making it taller and tilting the seat.

Life by the leg

A Texas teen has set two Guinness World Records, all without lifting a finger. On Oct. 6 the record-keeping organization announced 17-year-old Maci Currin of Cedar Park, Texas, was the longest-legged teenager known to the world. At nearly 4½ feet long, Maci’s legs make up more than 60 percent of her 6-foot, 10-inch stature. That’s not all: She’ll also be named in Guinness World Records 2021 as the world’s longest-legged female. Although Maci says her long legs are occasionally inconvenient (she has to buy custom-fit pants), they’ve proven an advantage on her high-school volleyball team. “I hope that tall women can see that the height is a gift and that you shouldn’t be ashamed that you’re tall,” she said.

Driver Miss Daisy

Police in Ireland have stumbled upon an unlikely getaway driver for a small band of thieves. The national police arrested a 71-year-old woman they believe drove two men to (and from) a September house break-in near Mullingar in the nation’s Midlands. Police said the elderly woman runs a bed-and-breakfast in the area, but added that her operation may act as a front for her 28- and 45-year-old accomplices’ criminal enterprise.

Lose your llama?

An Oregon state trooper found himself on an odd assignment on Oct. 11 when a dispatcher called in a traffic problem on Interstate 84. The problem: A brown llama was lying on the on-ramp. The llama, it turned out, had escaped from the bed of a slow-moving pickup truck whose driver was attempting to transport three of the camelids from Washington to Utah. “The owner got about a mile down the road before he realized his mama llama was missing out of the back of the truck,” wrote Trooper Levi Macy in an account of the incident on the Oregon State Police’s Facebook page. “But of course, when he stopped his truck, the other 2 llamas bailed out, running free on the interstate.” With the help of a leash, Trooper Macy supervised the first escapee while the pickup driver corralled the others. Police issued the driver a warning for traveling with a “leaking or shifting load.”